Best clinical practice states that a patient's IV catheter should be routinely flushed with saline to assess catheter function, to clear residual medications, and to lock the catheter during periods of non-use. Where clinical practice dictates bolus flushing, disposable pre-filled syringes are preferred. Elsewhere, saline IV bags are routinely used in clinics for catheter care. The practice of using saline IV bags for catheter maintenance is a “passive” technique, relying only on gravity to deliver the flush solution thru the catheter. To this end, a modified IV tubing set which utilizes IV bag saline would decrease reliance on disposables and make catheter flushing accessible in more clinical settings.
Catheter flushing is an important component of routine catheter maintenance, and infrequent or non-sterile flushes can lead to severe catheter infections (O'Grady, 2011). However, where IV bags are routinely used for catheter care, approaches other than pre-filled syringes may be contemplated.
Therefore, there is a need for an IV tubing set which allows for active flushing procedures by a clinician for the repeated, sterile flushing of IV catheters using saline directly from an IV bag.